Return to Childhood
by that weird thing
Summary: When Intellegence needs a civilian to help them out, it's always best to call on old friends, right? Teams involved are MMPR thru Turbo and Dino Thunder, mentions Ninja Storm. No pairings currently.
1. Spies

A/N: I'm not sure where this is going, beyond an amusing reunion story, and I've got some ideas for that. My posting is gonna be really infrequent due to my job, but my editor promised she'd put them up as they came in. I'm over seas, and for a bit I'll be fairly steady with my writing because I broke my foot and sprained my ankle jumping out of a jeep wearing ten pounds of stuff. I'm thinking that whomever winds up at the Peace Confrence will become Rangers, part of a Global Force. Oh, and Andy Brooks is made up, he's supposed to be Dustin's cousin.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers, I do not own the CIA / FBI / NSA or any other government alphabet company. Nor am I affiliated with the Intelegence Departments. No, my life revolves around, well, things that go bang.

* * *

**_Washington, D.C. 3:15 pm August 23, 2007 _**

Aisha took her seat at the CIA meeting, "All right," Mr. Cummings said, "tell me what we got?"

"They're going to hold another Youth Peace Conference," Jamie said, "we have a suspicion that some of the delegates are going to be agents for their governments."

"Do we want to do the same?" Mr. Cummings asked.

"It could be useful." Jamie replied with a shrug.

"You'll need what, three teens who can keep their mouths shut?" Deke asked, "That'll never happen."

"Just three," Aisha asked, "how old are we talking?"

"Between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one," Jamie said, "they want a group that's old enough to speak and be heard, yet young enough to be idealistic."

"What if I can recommend four teens who meet that qualification?" Aisha said, "Last time, the Conference took twelve from America, for a greater diversification."

"Really?" Jamie said.

"I know three of the teens they chose," Aisha replied with a shrug. "Well, they're adults now, but I met them before they left. Jason came back to Angel Grove after three years, but Zack and Trini stayed on in Europe to study. Trini died in 2001 on a visit home, but Zack still lives over there." Aisha frowned, "I think Tommy said he was getting involved with this, joining the committee that runs it. There's an e-mail in my Gmail account about it."

"Are you and, Zack, close?" Mr. Cummings asked.

Aisha shrugged, "Not as close as I was to some of the others, I mean, we moved to Angel Grove just before they left, and we weren't close to the others until after they left. Even before, I got on more with Trini and Kim than with Zack and Jason."

"If we approached him, and he's on the selection committee would he push for Americans that we want?" Jamie asked.

Aisha frowned, "Maybe, thing is, Zack won't pick anyone who wouldn't do well. So, we'd have to be careful about who we pushed. Like I said, I can recommend four teens, just out of high school, who can keep their mouths shut, and if approached right, will be glad to help out."

"Can we get names?" Mr. Cummings asked.

"Trent Fernandez, adopted son of Anton Mercer," Aisha said, "Kira Ford, Conner McKnight and Ethan James. They met up in my friend Tommy's science lab, and became friends when he made them study together. Tommy also knew Anton because he used to work for him and between the two of them; they gave those kids some amazing opportunities."

"Does it have anything to do with the Power Rangers in Reefside?" Deke asked, curiously. Deke had been studying the Power Rangers since 1993, a fact that Aisha found secretly amusing.

Aisha shook her head, "No, more along the lines of seeing dig sites that they normally wouldn't have, visiting places like Egypt and India to see archeological finds. I won't say the four of them are total science geeks, but they're smart, and they didn't brag about their trips or even hint at them during school."

"What are they like?" Mr. Cummings asked.

Aisha shrugged, "I don't know, I haven't met them. If Tommy's right, then Conner's a soccer player who's good enough to be arrogant, but smart enough that his scholarships were academic and athletic. Ethan's a genius, especially with computers, who doesn't have many friends outside the group. Kira is a musician and Trent is an artist who wants to draw comics with strong female superheroes, According to Tommy, Trent's female characters tend to bare some resemblance to Kira, which is understandable, they're dating."

Mr. Cummings nodded, "We'll do some checking into them, and we'll send an agent to find your Zack."

Aisha laughed, "He's hardly mine, and I wouldn't want him if he offered. Besides, I can talk to Zack next week during my vacation. Rocky and Jason are hosting a little reunion for us and even Zack cleared his schedule to come. I can feel out Zack, and chat up Tommy on his students, see what they're doing now and all. Tommy keeps close contact with them because of his friendship with Anton Mercer." _Which I still can't believe, Mercer only tried to kill him what, five or six hundred times?_

"Then that'll be you working on your vacation," Mr. Cummings objected.

Aisha flashed him a saucy grin, "You could pay me and I'll take a long holiday later."

Mr. Cummings sighed, "Fine, we'll set you up as a temporary field agent, Ms. Campbell."

Aisha clicked her pen, "When are you going to make that permanent? I'm probably the most skilled paper pusher here. Trust me, there's nothing out there that's going to shock me."

"Even mutant space ninjas?" Deke asked.

Aisha smiled at him and said in a throaty voice, "Honey, mutant space ninjas are a piece of cake. Now if anyone resurrects Ivan Ooze, I'm gonna worry." She looked at Mr. Cummings, "Anything else for today, sir?"

Mr. Cummings sighed, "No, Ms. Campbell, you've intimidated your co-workers enough for now. I'll have your field id sent around to your office."

Aisha stood up and gathered her things, "I could just hang onto that, since you keep temporarily promoting me."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Campbell," Mr. Cummings said.

Aisha smiled and strolled out of the room with a slight sway to her hips, she loved it when Mr. Cummings let her do that, she had a lot of fun coming from Angel Grove, she'd told them that she'd seen a lot of strange things in her time, and talked openly about the attempt by Lord Zedd to turn her and her friends into evil ninjas, with permission from the others of course. Unfortunately, that made her info fodder for Deke and a paper pusher, because nobody believed her. At least no one teased her about it after she put Garret in the hospital for getting on her nerves. As she gathered her things, it was five o'clock and quitting time, she heard the new kid starting again. "You know, I was kidnapped by an evil space Ninja named Lothor."

Aisha huffed, slipped off her heels and stalked over to him, "Look, kid. Put up or shut up." She lifted her hands into a classic karate position.

The kid, a sandy haired boy from California, smirked, "Sure thing, Zena," he took a slightly different stance, "thing is, Lady, I'm not funning."

"Neither am I," Aisha replied and threw a punch.

The kid blocked and spin kicked, "I lost a year of my life to that bastard." He dodged Aisha's kick, "And, I lost my family too. They didn't believe the truth. Do you know how it feels to get stuffed in a bubble for a year? Forced to watch as the Rangers tried repeatedly to rescue you and fail?"

Aisha flipped the kid and followed him down, setting her fist to punch, in a very lone tone she hissed, "Who was the yellow ranger?"

"Dustin." The kid hissed back.

Aisha sat back, "Well, it's nice to have a fellow victim around. Maybe they'll make us partners or something."

The boy sat up and grinned, "I'm Andy, Andy Brooks."

"Cousin?" Aisha asked.

"Yeah," Andy shrugged. The two stood up, "Aisha, right?"

"Aisha Campbell, Angel Grove." Aisha held out her hand.

"I'm from Northern California, half way between Reefside and Briarwood. I stayed at the Academy on holidays because my parents live in Brazil and aren't on the best relations with my American relatives." Andy said, shaking Aisha's hand.

"Ms. Campbell, Mr. Brooks," Mr. Cummings said, stalking over, "Are we done with the kung fu display?"

"Yes sir," Aisha said with a grin. "He's so cute, though. Can I keep him when I get permanent field duty?"

Mr. Cummings looked at her, and then at him, "Take him with you on your trip. See if he can handle an alias. If you both can pull it off, we might be able to use you both on this Peace Conference project."

Aisha's grin broadened, "Yes sir," she said, turning to Andy she said, "Let's go grab burgers and take a walk. I can figure out what you know and how much you'll need to know. We'll drop by tomorrow with that alias, Mr. Cummings. I think feeling out Andy is going to take a few days."

"This will be a simple assignment, Ms. Campbell," Mr. Cummings said, looking slightly worried.

"That's what I said last time," Aisha said, "and we staged a hostil take over of the Youth Center using uncooked noodles and pudding cups, and then stormed the hotel when they ran out of Jolt and Red Bull. I need to make sure Andy can keep up."

"Now I'm worried," Deke said, "just what kind of friends are these?"

Aisha shrugged, "Every couple of years we get together and relieve our childhood. Just without the putties and monsters. I'm sure that some of this is stuff we'd have done if Rita, Zedd and Rito weren't running around. The rest of it is stuff we would have thought about but never done." She slipped her shoes back on, slung her purse over her shoulder and put her folders in her briefcase. "If that's all, I'm starving." She gave Andy a teasing look, "Coming Andy."

"Oh the double entendres," Andy muttered as he grabbed a dark red backpack and a leather coat. "I guess I'll be back tomorrow."

"Hey Andy!" Ian shouted, "Watch out for her teeth!" Laughter from the room provided them with an exit cue.


	2. Bears don't fly

_A/N: Wow, I checked back like an hour or so after Jo posted the first story, and what did I see, one review and two alerts. It's stunning, guess I found something people like. Shout out to my girl Jo for staying up to one o'clock to look over my stuff. I can't post here because of, well, stuff, but I can e-mail stuff to Jo, who puts it up for me._

_E/N: (Editor's Note) This is going somewhere, and if he doesn't finish, I can, and will, beat him with rubber tubes. I swear on Elthare's Rock of the Night._

_Disclaimer: Neither of us own the Power Rangers, nor are we affiliated with Intellegence. We gain no profit from this, at least, no monetary profit. We get warm fuzzies from reviews...but you can't trade that!_

__

_**Angel Grove, California; August 30, 2007**_

Andy grunted when the plane landed, but forced a smile when Aisha looked at him, "Not a fan, huh?" She asked sweetly.

"Not particularly," Andy replied, and lowered his voice, "I can handle lightning, not flying."

Aisha nodded, "I'm not a fan either," she flicked a glance at the flight attendants, "My spirit animal was the bear for a reason. Bears don't fly."

Andy grinned as the plane slowed, "At least we have something in common."

"I'll say," Aisha said. "It's fast, but I'd much rather drive." She looked at the book in her hand, "I didn't tell anyone you were coming, Andy. We'll see how long they buy the 'new boyfriend' line, ok?"

"Just don't forget to call me Drew," Andy replied.

"I won't," Aisha chuckled, "I'm not that kind of person, I mean, it was Rocky who always forgot. Oh, and don't forget to play oblivious."

Andy put on his best serious face, "I promise to channel my best Dustin, dude."

"Not too obviously," Aisha warned him, again, "Tommy met Dustin, remember that."

"He won't suspect anything," Andy assured her. Personally, he thought that Aisha was taking the whole thing far too seriously. He knew how to handle himself in situations like this. He attended a fucking secret Ninja Academy for many years, before and after Lothor. Right now, he wanted off the plane, he had problems with claustrophobia, not freeze up major, but he wasn't too happy with the plane's overcrowded status. To take his mind off everything until they reached the terminal, Andy closed his eyes and pulled to mind his cousin Dustin, and the airhead style the former yellow ranger used. At least he could talk about skating with all the enthusiasm that Dustin reserved for motocross.

Finally, they were let off the plane and Aisha led him down to baggage terminal, gripping his hand tightly. Although Aisha herself was nearing thirty, Andy was twenty-five and far calmer. "Relax, sweetheart," Andy murmured, "you're going to break my fingers."

"Sorry, Drew," Aisha replied, relaxing her grip. "Rocky should be picking us up; oh he's going to be so mad."

Andy pulled her hand, making her turn to look at him, smiling; he gently squeezed her hand, "Aisha, take deep breaths. I don't think he'll be mad, surprised and shocked, of a certainty, but not mad. It's not like we got married in Vegas or something. It was just a nice surprise to be flying out here at the same time. Now, let's find my grandmother and your friend and we'll meet up tomorrow or something and you can tell me all about that fake crime scene or something."

Aisha smiled, "All right, Drew."

"Aisha?"

Aisha spun, startled by the Hispanic man who stood behind her, "Rocky!" Aisha let go of Andy's hand and threw her arms around him. "Oh my God, Rocko, it's been forever!"

Andy faked jealousy as his 'girlfriend' hugged this man, but when she stepped back, he offered a tight smile for her. "Who is this?" Rocky asked, his face was reflective of both curiosity and concern.

"Oh, this is Drew, my boyfriend, Drew, this is Rocky. I know I mentioned him." Aisha glanced between the pair.

"Repeatedly," Andy said dryly, he offered his hand to Rocky, "Aisha and I haven't been dating that long, less than a month. We both had to come out to California, so we caught the same flight. My full name is Andrew Cartwright, but everyone calls me Drew."

"Rocky DeSantos," Rocky replied, taking his hand, "Aisha hasn't mentioned you to me. It's nice to meet you Drew, what brings you to Angel Grove?"

Andy sighed, "My grandmother, actually. She hasn't been well and asked me to come out. I just passed my first year anniversary so I'm using hard won vacation time to do so. Since you've found Rocky, Aisha, I'm going to get my bag and go. My _abuela_ needs me."

"Habla español?" Rocky asked, surprised.

"A little," Andy replied, "I lived in Brazil for a couple of years."

Aisha, still standing somewhat between them, cleared her throat, "Let's not talk about that, Rocky. Would you give him a lift to his hotel? I know I'm staying with you, but we shouldn't make him get a cab, right?"

Rocky, looking trapped, nodded, "Right. You want a lift, Drew?"

"If it's not too much trouble, I'm staying at the Days Inn on…"

"I know where it is," Rocky said when Andy paused, as if to remember where it was.

"Right, sorry," Andy replied with an ingenious smile.

The buzzer for the luggage sounded and the trio moved closer to the conveyer. "My luggage is the bright yellow with red, black, blue and green ribbon," Aisha told Rocky, "there are three of them."

Andy leaned over slightly, "She packed bricks, be careful." He spotted his duffle, crimson and black with beetles and lightning bolts all over it and snatched it. Aisha's showed up not long after and each of them grabbed a bag. Andy was quick; he got the small one on wheels, leaving Rocky to manhandle the giant one and Aisha with her 'makeup slash shoe bag'.

"She did pack bricks," Rocky grunted as he set the bag down and extended the handle. "This way to the limo, ladies and gents."

"Please don't tell me that you are still driving that rusty old pick up," Aisha said, hooking her arm through Rocky's. "Isn't it dead yet?"

Andy, a step behind fixed his face into a glower, but inwardly, he was pleased. Aisha was quick to get Rocky focused on her instead of their supposed relationship. It wasn't that Andy didn't find Aisha attractive, because she was, but she was also his superior and had a wicked hook. He didn't care for the idea that his girlfriend could kick _his_ ass if she wanted. He liked the idea of someone who wasn't as, well, self assured in her ass-kicking skills. Someone who actually looked to him for protection instead of looking to protect him. That was why his dates at the Ninja Academy had been few and far between.

"Yes, she died the death of the righteous," Rocky said, pouting, "I bought a 93 Chevy now. It's an even worse hunk of junk than my old one was."

"Can't you buy something from _this_ decade?" Aisha asked.

"Nothing in this decade runs long anymore," Rocky said, "I want something that will last." He looked at Andy, "What about you?"

Andy shrugged, "I rebuild classics on the weekend, but I'm a skater at heart." He poked at Aisha, "Roller blades, not skateboards."

Aisha mock-pouted, "It was only once! Can't you let it die?"

"Skaters are for real; guys who ride skateboards are posers." Andy asserted. "You can do more stunts with blades."

"I take it this is an old argument?" Rocky asked.

"I assumed that he meant skateboards when he called himself a skater," Aisha said, "He won't let me forget."

"She insulted me," Andy explained, "It's only a step below dissing me!"

"All right," Rocky said, clearly amused, "I'll make sure not to mention it. How long are you in town for?"

"A week," Andy replied, "Abuela wants to make sure I'm in one piece, and then she's going to try to set me up with 'some nice Hispanic girl'. I'll probably come and kidnap Aisha one day to meet her, but only if I'm desperate to escape the parade."

"I can understand that," Rocky said, "mine's the same way."

Common ground, Andy thought, catching Aisha's sly smile, even if it was grandmothers who wanted their children to be settled and happy before they turned thirty. "She's almost got my cousin settled with his girl, so she's turning to me. I'm not going to be permitted to bachelorize myself if she has her way."

"Isn't Sandy like, 16 or something?" Aisha asked.

"He's twenty, just turned, and Karri is nineteen, but grandmother's already promised that she'd loan him the money for the ring and everything." Andy replied.

"So I'm going to get hints," Aisha sighed and bumped him, "The things I do for you, and I'm not getting anything from it!"

Andy raised one hand, "Don't hit me, please! I'm too young to see my life flash before my eyes."

"When did I do that?" Aisha asked.

"The first time you flipped me for a hostage joke. I half expected a knife to appear in your hand," Andy replied, truthfully.

Aisha smirked, "I rule."

"Here's the truck," Rocky said. "You didn't really flip him did you?"

"Repeatedly," the pair said in unison. They tossed the bags in back and then got in with Aisha in the middle.


	3. Gossip

A/N: So, after breaking my foot and having surgery and dealing with far too many pain pills, I'm in Hockey Town and inspired to write, so I present to you the next chapter of Return to Childhood. This has been ghosting in between me and a friend for a while and part of this was written during a stint where we joked about Rocky and Adam throwing over everyone and running away together. Also, look for more from me because I'm, like, bed bound for the most part until the end of the year. Dr. Mom's orders, no getting up unless I can't hold it or I'm going to the doctor's office. I'm just writing this for fun, and I may seguey this into a sequal, but I don't know yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or any affiliated items, nor am I affiliated with any branch of Intellegence or related government agencies.

* * *

_**Angel Grove, California August 30, 2007**_

Aisha was tickled pink, well, yellow, with the way that Andy handled Rocky. When they dropped him off at the hotel, however, Aisha found a different side of Rocky, "Why didn't you tell us about your boyfriend?" Rocky demanded.

Aisha shrugged, "We haven't been dating that long, and the flying out together was a literally last minute decision. Besides he's younger than I am, so I thought that it would be better not to mention it too soon." She tapped her fingers on the door frame.

"What do you know about him?" Rocky asked, "Can you trust him?"

Aisha snarled, "Rocky get off my back, I love you like a brother, but seriously, he's just a guy I'm dating, I'm not sure I could even say love of my life. We're not sleeping together so you don't have to go all big brother on him. Drew is a sweet, charming young man who can actually spar with me, which is better than some of the men I dated. He doesn't own an axe and he has a teddy bear he sleeps with on road trips. He's always been a total sweetheart and a gentleman."

Rocky sighed, "I'm sorry, Aisha, I just worry about you. Like you said, I feel like you're my sister, and I want to make sure you're not going to get hurt."

"If he hurts me, I'll hurt him," Aisha replied quietly. "He knows I can, and that I will, so he's very careful about our relationship. Not to mention how nervous he was when he realized that he's younger than I am. This flying together was spur of the moment, his grandmother needed him and the only flight he could get was mine. He's actually terrified of you guys, because I said that you were as good as or better than I am. Back off, Rocky, your help is not needed this time."

Rocky turned into his driveway and parked the truck, "I'm sorry, Aisha. I won't mention your new friend."

Aisha smiled, "Thank you. So, who's for taking over the Surf Spot later and building a fake crime scene?"

"We'll think about it." Rocky said. The two climbed out of the truck as a flood of Power Rangers surrounded them. In moments the two found that neither had to take anything of Aisha's, as Jason, Tommy and Zack each claimed a bag and brought them in. Aisha was in the middle of a group hug with Tanya, Kat and Kim before she knew it, all of them laughing and talking at once. They headed for the house when Aisha saw Adam and she shrieked and leapt to pull him into a Katie-style hug. He hugged her back just as tightly, "Rocky said you were back, but I don't believe it," Aisha murmured.

"I was in Russia, not on Eltare," Adam replied, "I'm not going to miss being here for anything."

Aisha stepped back, "Good, you're going to help me with the crime scene."

Adam smiled, "It's always something, right?"

"Always," Aisha agreed, dragging him into the house, "did Tommy bring the kids?"

"Hailey took them to the park to run off some energy. Those four are on a permanent sugar high, I swear," Adam said. He wasn't as shy as he'd once been, but he wasn't as outgoing as Rocky.

"Stealing my boyfriend again," Rocky teased as he appeared to put an arm around Adam's waist.

"Just catching up," Aisha replied, "I didn't know you got that sex change?"

"Huh?" Rocky asked.

"Remember, you told Anya that you'd date Adam when you got a sex change." Aisha said, grinning, "I don't know who blushed harder, Adam or Anya."

Tanya, a step behind him, added, "Is there something I need to know about, Rocky?"

Rocky swallowed and stepped away from Adam, "Nope. Just joking," he beat a hasty retreat towards his back yard while everyone else laughed.

Making sure the door to the back yard was closed, Adam kissed Tanya, "I love the fact that he's scared of you, it keeps him chained."

"We need to find him a girlfriend," Kat offered, "that'll keep him from his jokes." The guys all glanced at each other and headed out to the back yard, clearly not wanting to take part in a matchmaking scheme.

"Remember Kaylee? That's not the brightest idea," Kim said as the girls walked into the living room, "Besides; it's hard to find a girl who _isn't_ a joker to live with one who is. Then there's the secret, how long would it take for that to come between them?"

They settled around the table, "So we get him a Ranger girl," Aisha shrugged, when they looked at her she shook her head, "You don't want me. I'm not looking to date right now, well; actually, I have someone to date right now."

"Do tell!" Kim said, interested in a heart beat.

"His name is Andrew, we call him Drew." Aisha smiled, "He's a few years younger, but an absolute sweetheart. He's studied the martial arts, so we spar sometimes, and he's terrified of meeting Rocky and Adam ever since I mentioned they were better than I am." She paused, "He's here in Angel Grove, actually. He's from Brazil, but lived in northern California for a while before starting at the Company. His grandmother lives here in town and she's not well, so he came out to see her. The only flight with seats left was mine, so he rode out with me."

"And you didn't bring him here?" Kat demanded.

"No, he wanted to see his grandmother first," Aisha replied, "besides, he was half afraid of Rocky the whole ride to the hotel. Rocky was playing 'big brother'."

"Aw," Kim said, "a family man, good catch, Aisha."

"Eh," Aisha shrugged, "he's not 'the one', but he's a good guy. He loves to skate, and it's cool to watch him do stunts. He used to do some competing, but he hasn't since he moved east. In fact, when he was showing me some of his stuff, he has a picture of himself with Shane Clarke, the Red Wind Ranger. They've been to a lot of the same events, although Shane skateboards and Drew skates. They're sort of friends, although their e-mails consist of calling each other loser and poser all the time."

"So he's pre-vetted by a Ranger," Tanya said, "that's a good thing."

"I told Drew we'd probably do something like build a fake crime scene at the Surf Spot," Aisha said, "who's in?"

"Me!" Kim said, laughing, "That sounds like fun."

"Hey everyone," Kira said from the entrance to the living room.

"Hey Kira," Aisha said, waving, spotting Hailey over Kira's shoulder, she grinned, "Hailey, come help! Actually, both of you come help. We're going to commit a crime at the Surf Spot."

"Did they break out the alcohol already?" Kira murmured to Hailey as they joined the girls in the living room.

"Nope," Kat said, giggling. "Just catching up is all."

"So what's the plan?" Hailey asked.

"We were just to the point of finding out who wanted to build the crime scene," Aisha said.

"Adele's going to kill us this time," Kat said, she shrugged, "I'm in."

"I'm in," Tanya said.

"I'm in," Kira said.

"I'm in," Hailey said. "Now then, how are we going to get the boys in?"

"I'll get Trent, Conner and Ethan," Kira said, she grinned, "they'll jump before I finish telling them how high."

"I've got Rocky," Aisha said, "I'll guilt trip him over Drew."

"Adam," Tanya said, "he won't want to sleep on the couch for the next few months."

"Jason," Kat said, at everyone's surprised looks, she grinned, "We've been trying to get our schedules to mesh, because we're dating."

"I'll get Zack, Billy and Tommy," Kim said, confidently.

"Actually," Aisha said, "I wanted to talk to Zack anyway, let me convince him."

"Ok," Kim said.

The girls all turned to Kat, "Now spill," Aisha ordered.

"Well," Kat said, "Jason and I seem to have a habit of winding up the odd men out at celebrations and stuff, so we just started traveling together. Then we started to do stuff together, things that aren't fun to do alone, like random dinners and movies, then last Christmas, he came to Australia on business and rescued me from Grandma Hillard and her 'lovely young men' parade, and we just, well, we realized that we like each other, and Tommy gave us his blessing and, well, we're trying."

"Do you love him?" Kim asked quietly.

Kat hesitated, "I don't know," she answered, "I mean, I care for him, and I think I could love him, but I haven't really thought about it."

Jason shut the sliding door, and turned to find five men staring at him solemnly, "And when," Zack said, "were we supposed to find out about you and Kat?"

Jason looked hopeful, "Now?"

"Try again," Billy said.

Jason sighed, "Look, I haven't said anything because I wasn't sure if Kat wanted to. We did talk to Tommy because she felt we should."

They all turned to Tommy, who coughed, "I, uh, had problems of my own at the time, so I just said it didn't bother me and then realized that it didn't. Kat and I were, great, together, but we did better without each other; except for the whole exploding island thing, of course."

Everyone laughed for a moment, then Rocky said, "Seriously, Jason, you and Kat?"

Jason shrugged, "We're working on it. Our schedules aren't exactly identical."

"Hey Dr O," Conner said, bounding on the deck, tired and sweaty from the Frisbee war he'd been having with Ethan and Trent, "We're hungry."

"Go out to eat," Tommy told him, "You're old enough to take care of yourself."

"Yeah," Ethan said, "but Hailey told us someone was doing BBQ tonight."

Rocky laughed, "That would be me, why don't you guys go ask the girls if they're going to help, ok? That way Aisha won't hit me for trying to grill without supervision."

"On it," Conner said, and bounded into the house, followed by Ethan and Trent.


End file.
